Friday, November 28, 2014

December and the festive season is almost upon us. Decorations already adorn the shopping centres and some very organised friends and family members have posted some beautifully decorated Christmas trees on Facebook. Thinking today that it is high time I urged myself into the Christmas spirit I decided to devise a Christmas GeneaMeme while listening to Carols.... Genealogy memes are a wonderful way to record your Christmas traditions and memories for your family, so I hope that you will join me in responding to my prompts. The prompts are merely suggestions. Please fell free to answer any way you wish. Your answers may be as brief as one word or as loquacious as takes your fancy and please don't feel as though you must answer every prompt.

If you decide to participate in my 'So This is Christmas" genealogy meme, simply copy and paste the following prompts to your blog or facebook, or just write the headings and responses, and I hope that you will enjoy a trip down the Christmas memory lane. I have provided a link above to Christmas Carol 'So this is Christmas' sung by Celine Dion, to put you in a festive mood while you write....

I will compile a list of your GeneMemes and post the links to them on my own blog so please leave me a message if you would like your Christmas GeneaMeme published.

Wishing all my family and friends a very Merry Christmas Season,

Sharn

SO THIS IS CHRISTMAS - GENEAMEME 20141.WHAT KIND OF CHRISTMAS DID YOU HAVE AS A CHILD?
Was your childhood Christmas a religious one? Did you go to Church? Was your Christmas a large family festivity or a small occasion? Who did you spend Christmas Day with?2. WHERE DID YOU SPEND CHRISTMAS?
When you were a child did you celebrate Christmas in your home, at a grandparents house or did you travel or go away on holidays and have Christmas away from home?3. A LETTER AND SOMETHING YUMMY FOR SANTA
As a child did you write a letter to Santa or leave out food and/or a drink for him? Did Santa have milk and cookies at your home or did he find a refreshing beer to help him on his merry way? And don't forget the reindeer!

4. THE CHRISTMAS TREE

Do you recall your childhood Christmas tree? Did you have a real tree? If so, do you remember where the tree came from? Do you recall going out to get the tree? When did your family put the tree up? Who decorated your childhood Christmas tree? (see the prompt below for decorations) Have you carried any of your family Christmas tree traditions into your adult life?

5. DECORATING THE CHRISTMAS TREE
Who decorated your Christmas tree when you were a child? Did you help? Did you make or buy decorations. If you made your own decorations perhaps you might share a description of them here. What were your favourite decorations?

6. DID YOU DECORATE OUTDOORS?

Did you decorate your house or a Christmas tree outdoors, or put decorations on the roof of your house? Did you put up outdoor lights? Do you remember anyone in your neighbourhood putting up Christmas decorations outdoors?

7. CHRISTMAS CARDS
When you were a child did you give and receive Christmas cards? Who sent cards in your family?
Was there a special place where you displayed the Christmas cards your family received? What did you do with your Christmas cards after the festive season? Were they used in craft activities or were they kept? 8. CHRISTMAS STOCKINGS
Did you have a Christmas stocking as a child? Was your 'Christmas stocking' a pillow case or a real stocking? Where in your home did you put your stocking out? Were all your gifts placed in your stocking or did you have some wrapped under the tree?9. CHRISTMAS PRESENTS
Who gave you Christmas presents when you were a child? Did you receive presents from Santa, your parents, from other family members, family and from school friends? Did you make any Christmas presents for others when you were a child? Can you recall any gift that you made? When did you open your Christmas gifts?10. YOUR FAVOURITE CHRISTMAS PRESENT
Was there one Christmas present which stands out from your childhood as your best ever gift? What was it and had you been waiting for many years for this gift?11. WAS THERE A PRESENT YOU WANTED BUT NEVER RECEIVED?
Did you ever have an unrealistic Christmas present that you wished for but did not receive?12. DID YOU GIVE GIFTS TO TEACHERS AND FRIENDS AT SCHOOL?
As a child did you exchange gifts with your school friends? Did you give your teachers presents? Looking back now, can you recall any of these presents?

13. CHRISTMAS FOOD
What kind of special foods did your family have on Christmas Day? Did you have a hot meal or cold as is often the case with an Australian Christmas which occurs in the hot summer month of December? Where did you eat - indoors or outdoors? Did you have a picnic or was your Christmas meal a formal occasion? Did you have a favourite Christmas food? was there a particular Christmas food you didn't like?

14. A SPECIAL CHRISTMAS RECIPE
Was there one very special Christmas food from your childhood Christmas that you still have the recipe for or have carried on the tradition of making? Whose recipe was this Christmas dish?15. CHRISTMAS TRADITIONSDid your family have any special traditions when it came to celebrating Christmas? Did you have bon bons on the table? Did you say grace before eating? Was your Christmas a special celebration of a cultural background? Perhaps your family went caroling or went to a Carols by Candlelight evening?16. CHRISTMAS MUSICDo you associate music with Christmas as a child? Did your family sing Christmas carols together? Were you in a choir that sang Christmas carols? In what other ways was music a part of your childhood Christmases?

17. YOUR FAVOURITE CHRISTMAS CAROLAs a child, did you have a favourite Christmas song or hymn? Do you still enjoy listening to is now? Have you passed this Christmas song on to your children?

18. CHRISTMAS PARTIESChristmas is often a time for festivity and parties. What Christmas parties did you attend as a child? Did your parents have work Christmas parties, or neighbourhood or street parties? Were you invited to these? If you were involved in group activities such as Scouts, Girl Guides or Sporting Teams, did you have end of year, Christmas parties?19. CHRISTMAS CONCERTS/PLAYSAs a child did you ever take part in Christmas concerts, Pantomines, Nativity Plays or Band Performances?20. CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYSOn your Christmas school holidays, what did you do? In Australia, the Christmas break falls in summer so it is the longest break of the school year. Did you spend the holidays at home playing? Perhaps you holidayed at the beach, went camping, skiing or travelled? What activities do you remember doing? In countries where Christmas falls in winter, how do you remember spending your Christmas break as a child?

21. WHAT IS YOUR EARLIEST CHRISTMAS MEMORY?

What is your earliest Christmas memory? What do you remember about the day?

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

The above image is a photograph I purchased on Ebay, which hows of the town of Marburg in Queensland in 1908. The large building picturedon the left, centre, is the hotel which was licensed in 1907 to my great great grandmother, Hannah Morrison, in 1908 after her husband John, a prominent Sydney Rail Carriage Builder lost his fortune in the late 1890's due to the cancellation of a government contract.